So, today I learned that realms are actually parts of groups of realms - I noticed this when people from different realms were chatting on the General channel and asked them about it. However, when I checked online, it says my realm, Draenor, is not connected. Is the wow site not up to date or how is that?
And anyway, I was just curious, if realms are parts of groups, which group of realms is currently the most populated? I thought Draenor is the one with the highest population - but I assume realm groups would have even higher population?
When you see other players from other servers it is called PHASING and it happens when the area you are in has a low amount of players.
The other thing you mentioned is called CONNECTED REALMS which Draenor is not a part of. There are a bunch of dead servers Blizzard connected and those servers can join guilds cross realm and trade as if they are on the same server.
Just because you see other servers it does not mean you are connected, you still cannot trade with them or join guilds there.
You can see people from most EU realms in General Chat. If you want a litmus test for whether your realm is connected or not, browse your Trade Chat. If people from other realms pops up there - they are from connected realms which shares economy and guild facilities with your realm, thus you can join their guild and trade unrestricted with them.
Which is correct, Draenor being a heavily populated realm. Only us from smaller realms gets to be connected, like Doomhammer/Turalyon.